final decree

 

another day’s bubble bursts in a dwindling pool

a fountain loses force to the pressures of time

a green leaf, facing winter, will yellow and dry

remaining days evolve into steep stairs to climb

 

memory holds glimmers of glimpses of chance

through every door we have opened and closed

echoed voices, past decisions, a bell’s muted toll

from a weathered steeple, in abandoned repose

 

accoutrements to moments that mark the time

gathered and stored, collecting dust in a crate

the thrift store disposals of bargain hunter gains

passed down, through the years, to similar fate

 

ingress seeks egress over a path of digression

bone becomes brittle, supple skin becomes worn

all eventuality culminates with one final decree

that death, unto life, must perpetually be borne

 

s. paul

(July 2024)